Some Good News For Iraq, From An Unlikely Source
It may not mean much to Americans, but never underestimate the power of soccer to uplift a country. Iraq is now the proud Asian Football Cup champion for the first time ever:
A thumping header by Iraq’s Younis Mahmoud Khalaf in Jakarta, Indonesia, set off blasts of jubilant gunfire Sunday nearly 5,000 miles away in Baghdad, as Iraq celebrated its first-ever Asian Football Cup championship.
The lone goal came on a corner kick from Hawar Mulla Mohammed in the second half. It cemented the underdog Iraqi national team’s place atop the Asian soccer world, a storybook run that saw the Iraqis outshine Australia, Vietnam and South Korea before toppling three-time champ Saudi Arabia in the final.
After the 1-0 win, the team was immediately branded “heroes” by an Iraqi woman watching the game at a U.S.-Iraqi military base in the Baghdad.
“This is our victory,” said the woman during an on-camera interview with CNN. The woman did not want to show her face because of security reasons, but an Iraqi flag could be seen painted on her cheek.
“The players have made us proud, not the greedy politicians,” Sabah Shaiyal, a 43-year-old police officer in Baghdad, told The Associated Press. “Once again, our national team has shown that there is only one, united Iraq.”
The Iraqi national team includes Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish players.
Notably, not even the very real threat of death by suicide bombing has kept Iraqis from pouring into the streets in jubilation:
Before the game began, Baghdad braced for the worst, banning all vehicles in the capital until 6 a.m. Monday (10 p.m. Sunday ET) and warning that anyone firing off celebratory gunshots would be arrested, Iraqi Brig. Gen. Qassim Atta told CNN.
Jubilant Iraqis did not appear to adhere to either mandate, as television footage showed several cars, scooters and motorcycles among an exuberant crowd of bouncing Iraqis, chanting and waving flags in the Baghdad street. Gunfire could also be heard across the capital.
I could do without the gunfire, but it’s an Arabic thing…at least the guns are going off for the right reasons for once…
don’t be surprised if a suicide bomber does hit later, but this is a big, big thing for Iraqi national unity and that’s a reason for even soccer haters to celebrate…
Yeah, and now that the Bush Adminstration has figured out how to solve Baghdad’s electricity supply problem, the Iraqis can all watch the game on TV.
Way to threadjack, there buddy.
In any event, this is a big deal for Iraqi soccer. By winning the Asian Cup, they advance to the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa in 2009, where they’ll play reigning World Cup champion Italy, Copa America champion Brazil, Gold Cup champion USA (that’s us! hooray!), as well as the winner of Euro 2008, the African champions, host South Africa, and Oceania champions.
This provides a world stage for Iraqi soccer, and it really doesn’t matter how they do… think Cool Runnings, Calgary ‘88… Jamaica got a bobsled team!
Jacques, that’s indeed outrageous on the electricity, but that’s not my point…I’m not trying to paint a rosy scenario here, just saying that this, at least, is a good thing, and it’s an Iraqi thing, as opposed to a sectarian accomplishment…
Not to threadjack, but from reading the title I expected this to be about the Pollack/O’Hanlon op ed in the NYT today, from two critics of the handling of the war suggesting that the surge is working and that all is not lost — there is a good probability of sustainable stability. Now if the Iraqi parliament would just skip their summer vacation . . .
Can’t say I’m all that shocked at the phrase Aaron uses…
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_07_29_archive.html#3803921996585911353